"The car of the future can be turned into a hip living space—a chill-out zone in the midst of megacity traffic mayhem." That's how Mercedes-Benz presented its Vision Tokyo concept, a zero-emission, autonomous-capable five-passenger van-type thing that debuted at the Tokyo Motor Show.

Like the F 015, the Vision Tokyo is a van-like one-box design, wearing a brushed-stainless Alubeam silver hue. The wraparound windshield resembles that of a speedboat, while the screen-printed side windows give privacy without impeding outward view—like the advertising on the windows of your city bus.

The somewhat simplistic body shape is punctuated by nifty accent lighting, including glowing blue highlights on the enormous 26-inch wheels and a digital display on the LED-ringed rear window. The front "grille" is a light display as well, capable of showing a sound pattern to correspond with the music that passengers are listening to.

robert sorokanich

robert sorokanich

And passengers are the main occupants this vehicle was designed for. While the interior can be configured with a steering wheel and a front-facing driver's seat, the default interior layout has all passengers sitting on a U-shaped couch, steering wheel stowed out of the way, the autonomous technology handling the driving duties. A single large gullwing door occupies the left side of the vehicle, optimised for picking up passengers on Japan's drive-on-the-left roads. The interior is festooned with huge wraparound LED screens, and the perforated leather seats feature contrast back-lighting.

Mercedes-Benz

Like the F 015 concept, the Vision Tokyo is a plug-in fuel cell, promising over 600 miles of total range, roughly 120 of which is battery-derived.

While a mostly-autonomous minivan-esque commuting pod might not strike us as the pinnacle of vehicular excitement, there is something cool about the Vision Tokyo. If we're destined for a self-driving megacity future, at least our vehicles can double as disco-lit lounges.

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